Carpenters of PH - can you help with my door locks?
Discussion
Can anyone offer any advice?
Having thoroughly cleared out this old house - and thus far the only things found of use being a step ladder and a scaffold plank we cleared the loft to find that all the original lovely pine panneled doors were up there having been replaced, for reasons that still elude me, with horrible ply and cardboard honeycomb ones. Once stripped and given a couple of coats of wax oil they came up really well!
However, this is where the fun starts...
The doors themselves have a max thickness of 32 mil going down to 27 odd mil for the bathroom and therefore trying to fit a conventional 'in door lock' is a difficult (impossible) proposition.
The obvious option would be to fit older style 'surface mount' door locks (as they were) but there we hit a snag:
In two of the rooms - which may have been divided from one room - the jamb is so close to the wall there simply isnt the room for the receiving plate to be installed as the one above has 15mm give or take and the other is but half the size. The smallest I have found for the receiver is 18 mm but even this is too much.
Is there something obvious I am missing? I am of a mind that the rim mount lock mechanism should go on the inside of the door - is this not correct? The wall separating the two rooms is lath and plaster if it helps at all but this would seem to be a big stumbling block. - Unless I find a local machine shop with a fly press that could knock up some extra slim door keeps?
Thats my current best hope - unless anyone has any suggestions?
Sorry for the sideways pictures! Ill try to fix them!
Edit - sorry - I had a go but cant fix the orientation!
Edit Edit - I suppose I could 'dig them in' to the plaster to give more clearance - but getting the screws in (assuming the woodwork is in there) would be horrendous!
Edit Edit Edit - I'm not worried about the ablility to lock the doors as such - but they need to be kept closed in wind etc. Some sort of fixed knob and then a second latching mechanism?
Having thoroughly cleared out this old house - and thus far the only things found of use being a step ladder and a scaffold plank we cleared the loft to find that all the original lovely pine panneled doors were up there having been replaced, for reasons that still elude me, with horrible ply and cardboard honeycomb ones. Once stripped and given a couple of coats of wax oil they came up really well!
However, this is where the fun starts...
The doors themselves have a max thickness of 32 mil going down to 27 odd mil for the bathroom and therefore trying to fit a conventional 'in door lock' is a difficult (impossible) proposition.
The obvious option would be to fit older style 'surface mount' door locks (as they were) but there we hit a snag:
In two of the rooms - which may have been divided from one room - the jamb is so close to the wall there simply isnt the room for the receiving plate to be installed as the one above has 15mm give or take and the other is but half the size. The smallest I have found for the receiver is 18 mm but even this is too much.
Is there something obvious I am missing? I am of a mind that the rim mount lock mechanism should go on the inside of the door - is this not correct? The wall separating the two rooms is lath and plaster if it helps at all but this would seem to be a big stumbling block. - Unless I find a local machine shop with a fly press that could knock up some extra slim door keeps?
Thats my current best hope - unless anyone has any suggestions?
Sorry for the sideways pictures! Ill try to fix them!
Edit - sorry - I had a go but cant fix the orientation!
Edit Edit - I suppose I could 'dig them in' to the plaster to give more clearance - but getting the screws in (assuming the woodwork is in there) would be horrendous!
Edit Edit Edit - I'm not worried about the ablility to lock the doors as such - but they need to be kept closed in wind etc. Some sort of fixed knob and then a second latching mechanism?
Edited by paolow on Tuesday 8th August 19:54
campionissimo said:
can you reverse the door swing, so the hinges go on the narrow side.
I am annoyed at myself for not thinking of this - a smidge more work but a practical solution PLUS it means the doors open the proper (IMHO) way into the room. If we are rehanging anyway - why not? My wife is worried that baby would then be able to open the door from her cot but I am less concerned.
It would mean flipping 3 doors so they all go the 'right' way - but I can live with that - certialnly this is winning so far!
astroarcadia said:
The doors need a rim latch with the keep chopped/notched into the wall.
Not ideal but that's what I would do.
I still like this idea also - but how would I fix the keep though? theres so little woodwork exposed Id struggle to get the screws in remotely straight? had we not already papered I'd happily go at the wall with abandon - but we are at the stage where what we now have, I'd like to keep nice - and cant see how I'd achieve that. Not so much the keep - I can just take my time - but getting the screws in would be problematic!Not ideal but that's what I would do.
OP Checking in!
I had a chance to check the thread at work - and yes - what Eddie has achieved - I am aiming for.
I have tried to keep the house period with chandeliers, cornicing, corbels, roses, coving and whatnot as much as possible even down to the firm rejection of LED bulbs. Where these are long gone they have been replaced with reclaims or repro with the exception of the kitchen where I just though f
k it and have built in AV, induction hob and a million sockets etc.
The doors were an amazing and lucky find (though getting them back out of the loft was a real wounder in the summer heat). I have just finished sorting the next two for wax oil and yes, they have woodworm, a couple of cracks and a historic patina - but they are straight and I think that kind of 'warmly worn' finish only adds to them and gives them so much more life than a door from Wickes.
It would seem I have two choices - flip the 'errant' doors or have keeps sunk into the plaster. I will dwell on these so thanks to those that have suggested these options. Theres pros and cons to both - but I will probably get an old door off (much lighter) and see how this works 'flipped' before making a decision. I need to be sure the opening looks ok with the flipped version - and I need to be sure I can sink the keeps without too much collateral damage - so these are my considerations. Nice to have options though.
One final point. The doors have a 'long' panel and a 'short' one in thier makeup (four 'panes' with two upper and two lower). I had always assumed the doors would have the longer panel at the bottom and the shorter at the top like a front door would look. Evidence suggests he had them with the short at the bottom and the long at the top which to me seems upside down? youd open them with a hand at hip level rather than torso level? I dont know if you can see from the pics but the keyhole implies that the doors had the shorter panes at the lower end?
Have I been smoking too much crack - or does this seem, well, upside down? The new locks (either way) will cover the keyhole - so heres a question - put them back how they were or put them back the other way up?
I had a chance to check the thread at work - and yes - what Eddie has achieved - I am aiming for.
I have tried to keep the house period with chandeliers, cornicing, corbels, roses, coving and whatnot as much as possible even down to the firm rejection of LED bulbs. Where these are long gone they have been replaced with reclaims or repro with the exception of the kitchen where I just though f
k it and have built in AV, induction hob and a million sockets etc.The doors were an amazing and lucky find (though getting them back out of the loft was a real wounder in the summer heat). I have just finished sorting the next two for wax oil and yes, they have woodworm, a couple of cracks and a historic patina - but they are straight and I think that kind of 'warmly worn' finish only adds to them and gives them so much more life than a door from Wickes.
It would seem I have two choices - flip the 'errant' doors or have keeps sunk into the plaster. I will dwell on these so thanks to those that have suggested these options. Theres pros and cons to both - but I will probably get an old door off (much lighter) and see how this works 'flipped' before making a decision. I need to be sure the opening looks ok with the flipped version - and I need to be sure I can sink the keeps without too much collateral damage - so these are my considerations. Nice to have options though.
One final point. The doors have a 'long' panel and a 'short' one in thier makeup (four 'panes' with two upper and two lower). I had always assumed the doors would have the longer panel at the bottom and the shorter at the top like a front door would look. Evidence suggests he had them with the short at the bottom and the long at the top which to me seems upside down? youd open them with a hand at hip level rather than torso level? I dont know if you can see from the pics but the keyhole implies that the doors had the shorter panes at the lower end?
Have I been smoking too much crack - or does this seem, well, upside down? The new locks (either way) will cover the keyhole - so heres a question - put them back how they were or put them back the other way up?
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